Rail-joint.



O. D. WRIGHT. RAIL JOINT. APPLIOA'I'ION IILBD AUG.19, 1910.

989,317, Patented Apr. 11,1911.

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

CLARK D. WRIGHT. OF PALESTINE. ILLINOIS.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11. 1911.

To all whom it may cones/n;

Be it known that l. (lining l). \Yuiorrr, citizen ot the United States. residing at Palestine. in the county o't' trawterd and State of Illinois. have invented certain new and uset'ul lniprovcnieuts in .lhlllvltlllllbi, o'i' which the Following is a speciticat'itni.

This invention relates to railways. referring partieularly to an improvement in that class o'l devices which are known as rail joints.

An ohjectiol this invention is to provide a joint o't this nature with aneans for preventing the creeping oi the rails through the joint and at the same time to allow for any contractitm and expansion produced by changes in temperature.

The invention has for another ohject the provision of an attacinncni or projection upon a joint at this nature which automatirally spreads the free ends of a cotter-pin in order to retain the p n in position and to therchv secure the joint rigllidly in place. the pin hcing the only loelti g means employed.

further ohjcctv ot' this invention is to 'l'ortn a joint with a sliding hlock to hind against the sides ol the rails adjacent their meeting ends and to provide the hlock' with an ahutnicnt' for limiting the movement of tht hlock the ahutinent also serving as a driving ineinher to receive the hlows of a hannner durin the )ositionine' oi the block. h (D This invention still further aims at. the production of a joint of this character possessing certain other advantages and iinprovenients which will he hereinafter rel'erred to in the description and acctunpanying drawing, in which Figure l is a perspective view of one side of the joint havii'ig the ends oi the rails secured thereto. Fig. 2 is a transverse. section through the same. .l ig. 2) is an end View at the joint apposite to that which is disclosed to adv itage in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a horizontal section on the line 4% of Fig.

- 2, and 1 1g. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the sliding block employed.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawing by the same reference characters.

.lteferring to the drawing the numeral 1 designates a base-plate which is provided at its longitudiinil edges with walls 11 and The walls 11 and 12 extend substantially the entire length of the base-plate 10,

the wall 11 hcin i' ot' such contour as to snugly engage against one side ot a rail l l. while the wall 1:! is sp: cad from the op-- posite side oi? the '::i1 .121. The wall ll is provided with an undercut portion it to reei\c one side oi the hase 1: of the. rail in order to prevent the upward movement ol the rail incident to the passage olf rolling stock thereover. To further secure the rail til in position. and especially to prevent the longitudinal creeping of the rail within the undercut portion 1-1. the wall 1.]. is provided at its inner face with a plurality of studs it; which project partially through thewveh IT ol the rail. The \vch 1? ol' the rail is provided with aperture: lb which register with the studs it), hut which are enlarged tor the purpose of admitting of a slight play of the studs 1t; therein. The loose titling of the stud It; within the weh '1? ol the rail is for the purpose of adapting the joint to the ex pansion and contraction of the rails 13 under the action ot the temperature. It will also he noted that the apertures 18 are not extended en irely through the web 17 ot' the rail. The wall 1; which is carried at the opposite edge of the hose-plate it) is formed with an undercut shoulder 19 to receive a sliding hlock 20 which is ctu'respondingly 't'orincd t engage against the shoulder 1%)101' the purpose of preventing the upward movement of the block 20. The sliding block 20 is provided with an inner face having a contour conforming to the shape of the side of the rail 1; so as to snugly lit thereagainst and to prevent the upward movement of the rail thcrct'roln. The hloek 20 is provided with an undercut portion it which receives the side of the base ot the rail.

It will he observed, particularly from Fig. 2 that the sliding block .40 extends slightly above the upper edge of the wall 12 and that, the block carries an overhanging tlange 22 to engage upon the wall 12 and to close the opening between the adjacent; faces of the block 20 and of the wall 12 incident to the inward movement 01 the block under the action of a key 23. wall 12 are provided with corresponding and registering grooves 24 in their adjacentfaces to receive therein the tapered key 23. The reduced end of the key 22: is extended beyond one end of the block 20 and ahove the shouldered portion thereof to receive a cotter-pin 25 which is driven downwardly through an aperture formed in the key 93.

The block 20 and the A projection 26 is formed upon the end of: the block and-immediately below the reduced {end of the key 23. The projection is formed with oppositely inclined faces 27 to receivethe lower ends of the cotter-pin and to separate the same during the .down-" ward-inoveznent ofthe cotter-pin through the key 23. It is thus observed that the projectiorr 26 automatically opens the outer end of the cotter-pin to lock the same within the key 23,- and, by reason of its rigid position upon" the end of the block 20, hold the ends of the"cotterpin"in'such separated position. The-opposite end of the sliding block 20 is" provided with an abutment 28 which coinprises body of metal, preferably cast in tegrally with the block 20, extending beyond the edges of the block to engage against the,

end ofjthe wall 12 when the block 20 is driven into position. From Fig. 4 it will be seen that the abutment 28 is flattened at its outer face, which flattened face is provided for the purpose of receiving blows from a hammer, or like 1' nplement for driving the block into position.

The opposite longitudinal edges of the base pliitc 10 are recessed as at 2%) to receive the ranks of spikes 30. The heads of the spikes 30, which are offset, extend 1 into notches 31 formed in the outer faces of the walls 11. and 12. From Fig. 2 it will be noted that when the spike 30 is driven to the full extent of its downward movement that the head of the spike is spaced above the upper face of the base-plate 10 to provide 'a substantial support for the joint. The

corners of the base-plate 10 are preferably beveled as is disclosed at to eliminate all unnecessary corners in order to provide a joint which can be easily handled. The base plate 10 is provided with spaced transverse ribs and 33 engaging against the opposite sides of the tie to hold the base plate 10 from longitudinal movement.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A. rail oint including a base-plate, walls arranged along the longitudinal. edges of said plate, one of said Walls being con foru'icd to receive a rail thercagainst, studs inwardly projectedfrom said wall for engagement loosely in the web of the rail, a block slidably positioned against the opposite side of the rail and against the inner face of the other of said walls, a tapered arranged between said block and said wall to. separate the same, an overhanging flange.

carried by the block to close the space be tween the block and the wall when separated, a projection having oppositelyinclined faces positioned upon the end of said block, and a cotter-pin engaged downwardiy through the reduced end of said key and having its free ends engaged-over the camfaces of said projection.

2. A rail joint including a base for supporting a rail, walls carried by said base, a-

slidable block arranged between one of said walls and the rail, a tapered key positioned between said wall and said block for binding the rail againstthe opposite of said walls, an abutment formed upon one end'of said block to engage against the adjacent wall when the block is driven in position, a cotter-pin engaged through saidkey. and an abutment formed upon said block beneath the cotter-pin and having inclined faces for separating the ends of the cotter-pin when driven in position.

3. A rail joint including abase-plate, walls longitudinally formed at the edges of said base-plate, a rail engaged against one of said walls, a sliding block disposed between the rail and the opposite of said walls, studs inwardly projected from; the first of said walls to engage in the rail, said block and said second wall having registered grooves formed in the adjacent faces thereof, av tapcrcd key slidably dispgsed in the grooves, a cotter-pin engaged through the reduced end of said key to retain the same in position, a projection carried by said block to separate the ends of said cotter-pin the same is driven into position, an overl'ianging flange carried by the block to engage the upper edge of said second wall, and an abutu'icnt formed at the opposite end of said block to limit the inward movement of 

